When I initially saw that Disney’s The Jungle Book would be remade into a Live Action Movie, I was excited because this was one of my favorite animated films. I even celebrated by making my family a film inspired snack. Not only was the original a playful production with music and comedy, but it was was rooted in the idea of being a part of something bigger than yourself and having strength in FAMILY AKA the PACK.

After interviewing Director Jon Favreau and Neel Sethi of The Jungle Book, it is very clear that these same ideas and values have carried forth to create the newest version of the story. You can see how I came to this conclusion, after a recent session with the pair in Beverly Hills, California.

Photo by Becky Fry/My Sparkling Life for Disney

The first question for Jon Favreau was: How did you get started with the film, did you go to Disney or did they come to you?

Jon shared, “I was working with Disney on project called “Magic Kingdom” … It was essentially the Park coming to life….big adventure but inspired by all the different lands of the Park and the different attractions I grew up with, almost like a dream, the dreams I used to have when I was younger about Disneyland…Disney then starts doing films like Cinderella, Maleficent, Alice, and Pirates… I had been researching how I could do something with humans but on a set that you’re not gonna build… I met with Rob Legato who is our Visual Effects Supervisor on this film… I was discussing with him, how would I do this if I want to do this for “Magic Kingdom” hoping of course that maybe it would get made and I would hire him. He invited me back to his place, showed me Visual Effects, how he did things in “Hugo”, talked about “Avatar” “Titanic” working with Marty Scorsese, talked with Jim Cameron. Just a very experienced guy who really understood Visual Effects and what you could do with them. I didn’t really think anything of it after that and then I got the call from Disney to come in…”

“So what is it like seeing yourself as a toy? Neel Sethi stated,”It’s amazing.”(Photo by Becky Fry/My Sparkling Life for Disney)

He then continued, “Alan Horn loves Jungle Book. He loved it as a kid. He loved the stories, and this was going be the next one after the success that they had (with the other Disney films mentioned above) they wanted to explore what could happen. I didn’t really understand, I knew the Animated Film and doing a photo real version of that didn’t seem obvious. But as he discussed “Life of Pi” and he talked about the tone of that film and he talked about “Avatar”. It got me thinking, well we could create our own complete environment and if you do that, I could do something similar to what I was thinking about for Magic Kingdom …play with scale. Always keep it photo real but you could give it a dream like quality so you see the whole thing through kid’s eyes. So it was their enthusiasm, and their commitment to doing this… they were on board with the story I was pitching the whole time so in each iteration, nothing was a surprise. They were Partners throughout the whole thing.”

Photo by Disney

Jon was then asked: How did you know when you found your Mowgli?

Jon shared ,”I can’t take credit for this talented young man. He (Neel) wasn’t that experienced, but he had a quality, and being a Father recognized it. It was confidence. He was a fully formed version of himself and he was very quick on the comeback, very confident, and I think the fact that he wasn’t a kid who was out there looking for acting jobs made it fun for him. It didn’t feel like he was concerned about failing or concerned about getting the part or not.”

Jon then continued, “They (his family) came in on a lark, he saw a flyer and they auditioned. Looking at 2,000 kids, they would send me the best of the lot and he was one…he’s a little younger than we thought. He’s from Manhattan, that helped I’m from New York, and there was something that made me smile. He then started doing Martial Arts after the audition was over he says, “I do my own stunts. You are going to get a stunt man.” and I was like, this kid’s having a good time…”

Photo by Disney

He then revealed, “…We then brought his family out and I met with the family. It was an important part because it could be a disruptive experience if you don’t have a good support system around you… His sister really sealed the deal, she was 16 and turned out well and actually prepared him (Neel) for the audition. I was like, if they raised this one, they’re good Parents and as he grows up, they’ll be able to handle that. The whole family was there on the set and the whole set became a family.”

Jon finished with, “He did a great job, he is an athlete and I had the stunt men put him through the paces to make sure he could keep up with all the strenuous activity and really sell that he’s a kid that survived in this environment…we were lucky enough to find this gift.”

Neel Sethi was then asked: What it was like auditioning and after you got the part?

He shared, “I was in a Dance Class and the Teacher for the Dance Class said I’d be very good for it. I never thought about acting before but I auditioned, and they really liked me so we flew in LA, and then 2 weeks later in the Hotel, and the Producer called and were like flipping and jumping and we were so happy. We went out, and got my favorite food.”

What’s that?Neel Responded with, “Lobster and Ravioli”. We all had a chuckle.

Photo by Becky Fry/My Sparkling Life for Disney

We then inquired with Neel: You had to act with a lot of things that weren’t there. Did you have something in your mind when you were actually filming?

Neel explained how he used his imagination with puppets, “I made that in my head “Oh that’s not a puppet, That’s Baloo. Hi Baloo.” And then instead of seeing a Puppet, I would see this or that. That made it a lot easier and the puppet’s were made to look like Baloo and that helped a lot. John actually got into the puppet sometimes and that helped me interact with him.”

We also asked Neel: What was the scariest scene for you to film?

Neel told us, “To film, none of it was really scary because I was always 30 inches off the ground. I didn’t really like the mud it would dry on me and it would get all hot and itchy and then, they would spritz it with cold water for it to get muddy again, and I didn’t like that. I had to act like it was normal, but I’m getting chased by a stampede of Buffalo.”

Photo by Becky Fry/My Sparkling Life for Disney

Jon Favreau was then asked: How did you decide what Musical Scores would go into the film?

He answered, “Some of it was intuition. A lot of it was trial and error, and honestly it was the part I was most concerned about…I know when I’m watching “Creed” and that Rocky theme comes on, I’m like YEAH. Just like when the Music in Cinderella starts popping up as an audience member, I want it… There was one of the songs that wasn’t in the earlier version and my kids, and my wife, actually it was my wife….she is very supportive and very rarely goes against what I’m doing because she knows that as a Film Maker, you’re facing a lot of different opinions and things, and when you go home, it’s nice to have support and enthusiasm… But this is the one time, she was like “You’re not gonna have that song in?” and I’m like,“No, No, it might not fit tonally.” And she said, “I think you should have the song”. The kids wanted to hear the song… so it was early enough in the process that we worked it in … I started working on the Bare Necessities and then we worked in the one with Walken… it was John Debney, the Orchestration of the Music helped tie it in to the entire piece.” (Turns out the song was “I Wanna Be Like You”)

Fun Reveal: Jon Favreau took a prop from the set of The Jungle Book, It was a COWBELL! (Photo by Disney)

He continued, “…A great thrill for me is to show the kids and the whole family what we’ve been doing. Then you get your first sense by looking in their eyes. Sometimes you show them versions that are almost done because you know their taste, and I know it from the perspective of me I’m 49. I have 3 kids that are different ages, each one of them seeing how scary you could make it, see when they’re scared but they like it, see when they’re laughing, see the jokes that they get or don’t get…it’s a really interesting sampling…”

Photo by Becky Fry/My Sparkling Life for Disney

As you can tell from this interview, whether from parents, wife and kids, from the set, or the Disney Group, both Jon and Neel got support and strength from their PACKS!

About The Jungle Book:

Directed by Jon Favreau (“Iron Man”), based on Rudyard Kipling’s timeless stories and inspired by Disney’s classic animated film “The Jungle Book”, this all-new live-action epic adventure about Mowgli (newcomer Neel Sethi), a man-cub who’s been raised by a family of wolves.

But Mowgli finds he is no longer welcome in the jungle when fearsome tiger Shere Khan (voice of Idris Elba), who bears the scars of Man, promises to eliminate what he sees as a threat.

Urged to abandon the only home he’s ever known, Mowgli embarks on a captivating journey of self-discovery, guided by panther-turned-stern mentor Bagheera (voice of Ben Kingsley), and the free-spirited bear Baloo (voice of Bill Murray).

Along the way, Mowgli encounters jungle creatures who don’t exactly have his best interests at heart, including Kaa (voice of Scarlett Johansson), a python whose seductive voice and gaze hypnotizes the man-cub, and the smooth-talking King Louie (voice of Christopher Walken), who tries to coerce Mowgli into giving up the secret to the elusive and deadly red flower: fire.

The all-star cast also includes Lupita Nyong’o as the voice of the fiercely protective mother wolf Raksha, and Giancarlo Esposito as the voice of wolf pack’s alpha male Akela.

This was really a great interview and truly gave our group insight into how this film came to be. Want to learn more about our day? Be sure to also check out how I met Neel Sethi at The Jungle Book Red Carpet Premiere!